Editorial: President Obama's call for $100M in brain-mapping research is smart investment

In a file photo, Cassandra DeMarshall, of Mantua, a master's student at UMDNJ, works in the lab. Dr. Robert Nagele, of Washington Township, has lead a team of researchers, including his son Eric Nagele, Ming Han, of Yanzhou, China, and DeMarshall, to discover a blood test that can diagnose Alzheimers disease 8 to 10 years before the onset of the disease.Staff photo by Lori M. Nichols

It’s difficult to truly describe the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The clinical details, of course, are becoming more widely known as the population ages and so becomes more susceptible to the brain disorder with each passing year.

Health experts have been talking about the coming “silver tsunami,” the age-related health crisis that could bankrupt Medicaid and Medicare, as baby boomers become senior boomers.

In the case of Alzheimer’s alone, the number of U.S. patients is expected to quadruple by 2050, costing $1.1 trillion a year in care. Right now, caring for Alzheimer’s patients costs families and society $157 billion to $215 billion a year, according to a new study on the deadly disease.

The sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., Alzheimer’s robs its victims of their vitality and personality along with their memories. Those patients can survive for up to 20 years after their diagnosis, eventually becoming as reliant as an infant on family and other caregivers.

That around the clock care accounts for the bulk of the cost in the calculations. It works out to between $41,000 and $56,000 per year for each dementia case in terms of lost wages or the cost of hiring a health aide.

Altogether, it makes Alzheimer’s more costly than cancer and heart disease. Yet, the National Institutes of Health spends only a fraction of what’s allocated for research on cancer and heart disease on Alzheimer’s.

Last week, President Barack Obama called for $100 million to fund a brain-mapping study, akin to the genetic sequencing that is leading to so many promising applications. It’s hoped the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies will eventually yield methods of treating, preventing and curing disorders such as Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.

The president has been criticized for failing to invest in NASA and its exploration of world beyond this one.

This initiative focuses on inner space, the vast mysteries locked away in our brains. It may lead the way to the bright star of memory, glinting like a diamond in the deep dark mind.

It’s a reason for hope in an area where that’s a scarce commodity. There is no way to prevent, slow down or cure Alzheimer’s. It’s a death sentence administered little by little, strangling the brain in tangles and smothering it with plaques.

Investing in research, both the brain mapping and NIH studies, is essential to learning the secrets of this insidious killer and stopping it.